Surrendering Self Will

We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of god as we understand him.

No matter how much one wishes to try, exactly how can one turn his own will and his own life over to the care of whatever God he thinks there is? In my search for the answer to this question, I became aware of the wisdom with which it was written: that this is a two-part step.

I can see many times where should have died, or at least been injured, or in my previous style of living, and it never happened. Someone, or something, was looking after me. I choose to believe my life has always been in God’s care. He alone controls the number of days I will be granted until physical death.

The matter and will (self-will or God’s will) is the more difficult part of the step for me. It is only when I have experienced enough emotional pain, through failed attempts to fix myself, that I become willing to surrender to God’s will for my life. Surrender is like the calm after the storm. When my will is in line with God’s will for me, there is peace within.

https://www.facebook.com/CRPerryton?ref=hl

Turning It Over

Every man and woman who has joined Celebrate Recovery and intends to stick has, without realizing it, made beginning on Step 3. Isn’t it true that in all matters touching upon addictions, each of them has decided to turn his or her life over to the care, protection, and guidance of their one and only Higher Power, Jesus Christ, and Celebrate Recovery? Any willing newcomer feels sure that Celebrate Recovery is the only safe harbor for the foundering vessel he has become. Now if this is not turning one’s will in life over to a newfound Providence, then what is it?

Submission to God was the 1^st step to my recovery. I believe our fellowship seeks a spiritual openness to a new relationship with God. As I exert myself to following the path of the steps, I sense a freedom that gives me the ability to think for myself. My addiction confined me without any release and hindered my ability to be released from my self – confinement, but Celebrate Recovery assures me of a way to go forward. Mutual sharing, concern and caring for others is our natural gift to each other and mine is strengthened as my attitude towards God changes. I learn to submit to God’s will with in all my life, to have self-respect, and to keep both of these attitudes by giving away what I receive.

https://www.facebook.com/CRPerryton?ref=hl

Rest And Peace

Bible reading: Philippians 4:4 – 7

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:8)

The world doesn’t get any better just because we are in recovery! We still have to pay our bills, deal with people, and face the stressful changes that recovery can bring. There are pressures outside of our control that will tend to wear us down if we aren’t careful to protect ourselves from the world’s onslaught of anxiety.

The apostle Paul gave us a strategy to help guard against the troubles of daily life. He wrote, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything: tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank Him for His answers. If you do this you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6 – 7)

The word translated “keep” is a military term that means to keep under guard, like one protected by a sentry. The image is one of a guard marching around the border of our hearts and minds to keep out the pressing anxieties of life. This is only promised if we routinely turn every worry and need over to God and develop an attitude of gratitude. When we turn our worries over to the care of God, we will discover the protection of inner peace that passes all understanding.

The key to God’s peace is found in continually turning our lives over to him!

http://crperryton.wix.com/crperryton

Unconditional Love

Bible reading: 1 John 4:7 – 10

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:8)

Real love bring security into our lives. For many of us, feelings of insecurity contribute to the power of our addictions. Trusting that love can bring lasting security is hard for those of us who’ve been abandoned. Maybe someone we love betrayed our trust. Perhaps someone turned away from us when we betrayed theirs. It could be that someone we needed died, permanently leaving us.

Jesus promised, “I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm – I will come to you” (John 14:18). We may ask, “How can I trust in God’s love when it feels like all I’ve ever known is a love that disappoints?” Here’s the difference: Jesus is the only one who entered our lives through the “one-way” door of death. God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into this wicked world to bring us eternal life through His death. In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God, but His love for us when He sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins” (1 John 4:9 – 10).  The psalmist wrote, “For He [God] knows we are but dust, and that our days are few and brief.  But the loving kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who reverence Him.” (Psalms 103:14-17).

God’s love is unconditional and always waiting for us.  Turning our lives over to God involves opening the door of our hearts to His love.  Filling up on God’s love helps us to avoid relapse.  It meets us at our deepest needs and eases our most powerful insecurities.

As we give our lives over to God’s care, He brings healing and love to our hurts and pains.

http://crperryton.wix.com/crperryton

.

The Key Is Willingness

Once we have placed the key of willingness in the lock and have the door ever so slightly open, we find that we can always open it some more.

The willingness to give up my pride and self – will to Jesus Christ, the One and only Higher Power that is greater than myself has proved to be the only ingredient absolutely necessary to solve all of my problems today.  Even the smallest amount of willingness, if sincere, is sufficient to allow God to enter and take control over any problem, pain, or obsession. My level of comfort is in direct relation to the degree of willingness I possess at any given moment to give up my self – will, and allow God’s will to be manifested in my life. With the key of willingness, my worries and fears are powerfully transformed into serenity.

https://www.facebook.com/CRPerryton?ref=hl

Promised Joy

Bible Reading: 1 Peter 1:3-6

Step 3: We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1)

Principle 3: Consciously choose to commit all of my life and will to Christ care and control.

“Happy are the meek.” (Matthew 5:8)

Life is rough.  We must constantly struggle against the sin inherent in our mortal bodies.  We live with the realities of pain, sickness, and death.  We live in a world that is constantly decaying.  Even if we turn our lives over to God, what is there to look forward to?

Peter tells us, “Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.  And God has reserved for His children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you. …And God, in His mighty power, will make sure that you get there safely to receive it, because you are trusting Him.  It will be yours in that coming last day for all to see.  So be truly glad!  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here” (1 Peter 1:3-6)

Paul encourages us with this, “And since we are His children, we will share His treasures-for all God gives to His Son Jesus is now ours, too.  But, if we are to share His glory, we must also share His suffering.  Yet what we suffer now, is nothing compared to the glory He will give us later.  For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect His Children.  For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay- the things that overcame the world against its will at God’s command-will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God’s children enjoy” (Romans 8:17-21).  These promises are for us!

Our trust in God’s work on our behalf allows us to live in hope and joy.

http://crperryton.wix.com/crperryton

The Idea Of Faith

Do not let any prejudice you may have against spiritual terms deter you from honestly asking yourself what they mean to you.

The idea of faith is a very large chunk to swallow when fear, doubt and anger abound in and around me. Sometimes just the idea of doing something different, something I am not accustomed to doing, can eventually become an act of faith if I do it regularly, and do it without debating whether it’s the right thing to do. When a bad day comes along and everything is going wrong, a meeting or a talk with another addict often distracts me just enough to persuade me that everything is not quite as impossible, or as overwhelming as I had thought. In the same way, going to a Celebrate Recovery meeting or talking to a fellow addict are acts of faith: I believe I’m arresting my disease. These are ways I slowly move toward faith in Jesus Christ, my one and only Higher Power.

https://www.facebook.com/CRPerryton?ref=hl